For Downton Abbey addicts, the decadence and drama are all over for another year. But for hard-core fans needing a fix of their favourite TV show, the travel industry has jumped into the breach with tours and other suggestions for living the over the top Downton lifestyle. Many include a look inside the magnificent Highclere Castle, the real life home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and the TV home of Lord and Lady Grantham and the rest of their upstairs-downstairs entourage.

DOWNTON TOURS

Banking on the show's popularity, Downton Abbey theme tours are proving very popular. These include:

-- European Waterways has added two additional "Downton Abbey" itineraries to its lineup of luxury barge cruises with departures Aug. 10 and Aug. 17 aboard the eight-passenger Magna Carta. The cruises include a tour of Highclere Castle, where the acclaimed period drama is shot. Other Downton departures take place April 13, April 20 and May 4. Rates for the 6-night August sailings start at $5,180 per person, double occupancy, and include all meals, alcoholic beverages, escorted excursions daily, local transfers and admissions.

-- Kemptville Travel has added a Downton Abbey day to its 25th-annual World of Coronation Street tour Sept. 7-21. The Downton day begins with a walk around villages used for filming of the show's outdoor scenes followed by an afternoon guided tour of Highclere Castle. There are still a few spots left on Kemptville's popular tour, which visits many sites connected to Coronation Street and has a special evening with a Corrie personality, as well as Beatles-related attractions in Liverpool, stately homes and castles -- including Blenheim, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and Windsor Castle -- plus touring in London and more. The 13-night tour is $4,499 per person (based on twin sharing, plus $672 taxes) and includes return airfare from Toronto (add-on fares are available from other Canadian cities), 25 meals and sightseeing. See coronationstreettour.com.

-- U.S.-based Liberty Travel has a three-night Highclere Castle & Bampton Village tour that visits Downton sites. The package includes three-nights' lodging at a posh London hotel, round-trip airfare, airport/hotel transfers, a guided tour of Highclere Castle and Bampton Village (used for the show's outdoor scenes), and more. Prices start at $1,695 US per person, double occupancy, based on departure from New York's JFK airport. The tour starts April 16 with other dates in August and September. See libertytravel.com/downton for details.

DOWNTON ITINERARY

While Downton Abbey is filmed in Hampshire and Oxfordshire, it is set in Northern England in the historical county of Yorkshire. For fans interested in seeing the real towns mentioned in the show or the area's stately homes and picturesque countryside, VisitEngland, Visit Manchester and Rail Europe have put together a downloadable Decadence And Drama In Northern England itinerary. The visitmanchester.com/classicengland website has details on everything from places to stay (in historic surroundings or country manor houses), places to visit for a taste of the lavish Downton lifestyle, and places to go for quintessentially English experiences such as game shooting, touring with a chauffeur or being pampered by a butler. In addition, there is information on travelling to and around the area by train and a 20% discount (good to March 25) off British train tickets from Rail Europe. You can also enter an online contest for a chance to win an English vacation for two.

LIVE THE LUSH LIFESTYLE

Season-four of Downton Abbey touched on the financial burdens of running a huge estate. As Lady Mary and Tom Branson try to convince Lord Grantham to modernize, viewers learn it takes a lot of manpower -- and money -- to keep up such an enormous property, never mind inheritance taxes or replacing the castle roof!

Since World War II, many cash-strapped estate owners in England have opened their castles and stately homes for public tours or deeded them to organizations like the National Trust. Other properties have found new, financially sustainable, life as luxury hotels. Characterized by detailed architecture, extensive grounds, and Old World service, these grand buildings create an atmospheric and memorable backdrop for visitors captivated by the lavish sets, fabulous costumes, romance, intrigue, and decadence of period dramas.

Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club in the East Sussex village of Forest Row is one of these. Surrounded by Ashdown Forest -- said to the be the woods that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne -- it's the perfect setting for a country house weekend complete with secret gardens, wooded paths, lake views, cozy gourmet dining room, spa and country club with indoor pool and 18-hole golf course. Each of its 106 rooms and suites is spacious and unique. Many have lovely park views.

By English standards, the neo-Gothic Victorian manor at the heart of the hotel is not old. It was built in 1867 by Thomas Charles Thompson, a member of parliament who knocked down a previous mansion built in 1815. Thompson also built the little church east of the estate, and a school for local children (and provided lunch for them) that is used today for staff accommodation.

Later, the house was enlarged and became a convent, then the headquarters of an international bank before being acquired by the Elite Group in 1993.

Until March 31, Ashdown Park has a two-night package from $450 per room, including breakfast, for two guests who dine both nights in the Anderida restaurant. See ashdownpark.com.

HIGHCLERE IS HOT

Highclere Castle, near the Hampshire town of Newbury, opens for public tours but Downton Abbey has brought the estate so much fame that tickets for 2014 are already sold out. To learn more about the estate's fascinating history, see highclerecastle.co.uk.

MORE CHANCES TO WIN

Readers have until March 15 to enter the Visit Britain/Masterpiece Sweepstakes for a chance to win a five-day, four-night trip for two adults from Canada or the U.S. to Britain. The prize includes round-trip economy flights with British Airways, accommodations at a Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, a VIP reception at Highclere Castle hosted by Lord and Lady Carnarvon (author of Lady Catherine, The Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey) behind-the-scenes tours of Selfridges & Co. (featured in Mr. Selfridge), passes to the Museum of London's new Sherlock Holmes exhibit, and more. Travel must take place July 30-Aug. 4. See visitbritain.com or pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sweepstakes for details.